Fast freshman: Young Houston runner among Valley athletes in state meet

WASILLA — As Allison VanPelt sprinted down the finish chute in the girls’ 123A race during the Region III Championships cross-country running meet at Colony High School last week, there was something different about the Houston High School freshman.

VanPelt was wearing only one shoe.

Somewhere between the start and the finish on a wet day at Colony High School, VanPelt lost her right shoe in the mud. But that didn’t seem to slow the freshman much. VanPelt finished fourth in the field, clocking a time of 20 minutes and 8 seconds, narrowly missing a personal record she set the week before.

“She ran with one shoe for about the last two kilometers,” Houston head coach Chad Rice said. “She’s a fighter, a real great kid.”

With her fourth-place finish, VanPelt qualified for the ASAA/First National Bank 123A State Cross-Country Championships, slated for Saturday afternoon at Bartlett High School in Anchorage. VanPelt is the first Houston runner to compete in the girls’ cross-country running state championships in recent memory, and is state qualifier for a Hawks girls team that didn’t even exist last year.

“Last year we didn’t have a single one,” Rice said of girls on the Houston cross-country team. “We’re super excited about her.”

VanPelt made her high school debut at Colony High School during the first weekend of the 2015 season, running in the varsity race of the Colony Invitational.

“The very first race at Colony, I asked, ‘hey Allison, you want to try to run a varsity race here just to see how you do’,” Rice said. “I put her in the varsity race right off the bat, thinking, OK, if she doesn’t do well, we can just drop her back. But she took off like lightning.”

VanPelt notched a time of 21:38 to finish 11th in a Colony Invite field that included 4A teams Colony, Wasilla and Soldotna.

“She’s been doing good ever since,” Rice said. “She’s really been working hard, and she has super supportive parents working with her.”

Since the Colony Invite, VanPelt has shaved more than 90 seconds off her time. She set a personal record with a time of 20:04 at the Su Valley Invitational last week.

Rice said he’s excited to see how VanPelt does running in a tough 123A race that will feature runners from three different classes. He said he’s also excited to see VanPelt return to run on a Bartlett High course known partly for its hills.

“She loves hills. She did well at Bartlett at the beginning of the season,” Rice said.

Regardless of what happens Saturday, Rice said the future is bright for VanPelt, and he hopes Houston can build its running program around its freshman. When Rice took over the program three years ago, the Hawks had only a combined six runners on the boys and girls teams. Last year that number grew to 10, and this year it’s at 16, he said.

The girls’ 123A race is scheduled for Saturday at 1:30 p.m. at Bartlett High School.

4A races

Runners from Colony, Wasilla and Palmer will represent the Valley in the ASAA/First National Bank 4A State Championships.

Colony will have both its girls and boys squads at the state meet. The Colony girls finished as the Region III runner-up last week, after placing five in the top 13 of the 4A girls’ race. Sophomore Jill Bowker led the Knights with a fifth-place finish. Bowker was fifth at state as a freshman last year.

The Colony boys finished third in the region standings and return to the state meet after missing the championships last season. Junior Tracen Knopp led the Knights with a fourth-place finish, and was one of three Colony runners in the

top 9. Knopp finished 61st at state last season as a sophomore.

The Wasilla boys team also qualified with a second-place finish in the region team standings. Senior Quincy Fuller led the Warriors with a third-place finish at regions. Fuller placed 39th in state last season as a junior.

Three Palmer runners used top-15 finishes to qualify as individuals.

Junior Ruby Woodings will represent the Palmer girls, thanks to her third-place finish at regions. Woodings was 12th at state last year.

Senior Ryan Kavalok and freshman Leif Mumma each qualified for the Palmer boys, finishing 10th and 11th respectively in regions. Saturday will mark the first appearance in the state meet for both runners.

The 4A boys race is scheduled for 12:45 p.m. and the 4A girls race is slated for 2:15 p.m. at Bartlett.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.